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Tag Archive: neighbourhood

Evaluation of the Business Broker Programme – final report (Brokering Business Connections) for Business in the Community (BitC) and the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) on the national pilot programme, testing out the role of Business Brokers supporting business involvement in Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and neighbourhood renewal.

The evaluation has informed the development of Business Connectors, the current BitC programme described as a “powerful network of secondments recruited from business … to tackle social issues in local neighbourhood areas, and in so doing, create a powerful new development experience for talented business people”. This has been seen as a contribution to the Government’s agenda for the Big Society, with a major expansion funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

This Local Improvement Advisor assignment sought to help mainstream service managers in West Cumbria:

consider and apply the learning from neighbourhood management pilots in Workington and Whitehaven, and

develop skills in assessing cost-effectiveness and applying collaborative techniques for service improvement.

With the decisions to create Local Strategic Partnerships in Copeland and Allerdale and disband the West Cumbria Strategic Partnership, the project shifted to the introduction of locality working in both Districts, including a Cumbria pilot involving Allerdale District Council and the County Council. In this, its main focus became drawing the lessons from the neighbourhood management initiatives.

Key Findingsreport from our evaluation of the ‘Supporting Evidence for Local Delivery’ programme, introduced by central government in 2005 to promote better use of data, research and evidence in neighbourhood renewal through the provision of technical assistance to Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and neighbourhood renewal partnerships. Published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). Summary also available.

The research evaluated the quality and impact of four regional pilots and the programme as a whole, and researched analytical skills and skills gaps within partnerships in neighbourhood renewal-funded areas. The key findings emphasised strengthening skills and capacity at all levels, addressing needs within Local Area Agreements and responding to the challenge of the government’s review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration.

Project scoping work needed to analyse the impacts, financial costs and benefits of neighbourhood management initiatives in Barnsley, to provide evidence for decision makers considering the introduction of neighbourhood management approaches in other areas. The project sought to generate better shared understanding of available data and gaps in evidence, and what needs to be done to address these. It built on initial business case work undertaken by the Kendray Neighbourhood Management pathfinder, and looked to integrate current evaluation thinking with developments in pursuit of the local government efficiency agenda. (Neighbourhood Renewal Adviser assignment for Barnsley Council and the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber)Download:

This project sought to inform work in Barnsley to analyse the impacts, costs and benefits of neighbourhood management, focusing especially on financial aspects of ‘cost benefit’. It broke new ground, and contributed to related work as part of the National Neighbourhood Management Evaluation. The level of interest in the work was such that the Government Office Yorkshire and the Humber (who commissioned the original assignment with Barnsley Council and the Kendray Initiative) asked us to produce a case study and guide for wider use. The project also featured as part of the National Neighbourhood Management Network autumn conference 2008.Download:
* Neighbourhood Management Cost Benefit guide ( 452KB)
* Kendray case study ( 141KB)

Educe have worked with OCSI (Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion) on the further development of the well-regarded Data4nr (‘Data for Neighbourhoods and Regeneration’) website, under commission to the Department for Communities and Local Government.Data4nr identifies and signposts the datasets available for targeting, monitoring, priority setting and performance management at a neighbourhood level, also highlighting – where possible – sources which provide equalities data.Our role has been to advise and support on user engagement in developing the site, and help feed in new material.

Data4nr was used to kick start content in the development of the Government’s Open Data site.